I have a few days off from work. Yahoo!!! And of course, I wanted to do some painting. Do I start a new painting? Or work on the two that are still in process? Or look through my closet paintings...paintings that have been naughty and have disappointed me? I am still working on the two in process, and probably, I will print out some photos that could be used to make a painting....But, I did look at the inventory of my disappointing works to see what is salvageable. I lined them up against the walls in the spare bedroom and began shooting at them with questions. Is there anything in this painting that still speaks to me? Can anything good come of this work? Is this painting salvageable? Do I want to salvage this painting? Etc. It took me about a half hour of honestly looking at them, and making a decision to keep the painting out or put it back in the closet. Ten paintings made the cut, and three were chopped. My husband and I like to watch "Chopped" on the Food Network. The chopped paintings will be gessoed over. So of the ten paintings that might be salvageable, I took photos of them, printed them out in black & white, and then in color in order to work through the problems. However, one painting stood out...it was the painting that I decided to work on first.
We used to live in Tucson, Arizona, and I love the desert terrain, still do. I have literally boxes of photographs of the desert and mountains. Maybe, at this time, I miss the desert...I've painted a few paintings recently from the landscape of Arizona, and they are currently hanging in a show. The painting that I chose first to rework was a landscape of the desert with the mountains in the background.
Here she is...as you can see, everything is competing for attention. The sky is too busy, the mountains too dominant, and each plant is saying look at me. And honestly, I liked each element, everything was precious to me, and I didn't want to lose any of it. However, as a painting it just didn't work. It wasn't telling a story, it wasn't a painting that you could enter into, it had become a disappointment.
When I was a student at Wright State University, I remember a professor who was teaching painting, saying to all of us that details had to be sacrificed for the good of the painting. Ouch! I couldn't tell you how long this painting that been residing in the closet, but it is safe to say...a couple of years.
As I looked at this painting, I thought do I want to keep it the way it is, and it will remain in the closet or do I want to work on this painting, and bring it out of the closet. I made the decision to try to salvage it. So, I photographed the painting, and printed it out in color and then in black & white. I made thumbnail sketches working with the composition and the values, and decided on the best format for the painting.
I put chalk lines on the painting to map out the changes, and then I took a deep breath, and started to apply paint to the areas that would be the most dramatic changes. The sky had to become less busy and more unified. I added more mountains, and made the sky and the mountains closer in color and value range.
To bring the viewer into the painting, I needed to make an entrance. So, I made a trail into the desert going through the cacti. As I looked at what I had done, I thought okay this could work.
The color in this photo of the painting at this stage was photographed under overhead lighting and sitting on top of another painting that I am currently working on. It isn't true to the actual color of the painting. Oh well, wherever I can find space.
As I painted, I looked at my thumbnail sketch for direction instead of looking at a photograph, and it really helped keep me to focus as to what I was attempting to bring forth. I looked at the value range in the sketch to make my decisions as to the vegetation. Where did I want my lights and darks? How did I want the painting to read. What time of day am I trying to portray? It is so helpful to create sketches before you begin a painting. It helps you from getting lost in all the details.
This is the finished painting. I think it is much more successful. I haven't signed it as of yet...am I done with it? Don't know yet. I will let the painting sit for awhile before I finally make up my mind.
I still have clouds, but they aren't competing. I still have mountains, but they are in their appropriate position, sitting in the background. I still have the cacti, but each one is not competing for attention, but rather working together. Now, everything is inviting the viewer into the painting. Now, it is telling a story. My story, my love of the desert, my way of life when I lived there.
"Morning Hike" 16" x 20" painted in acrylic
My story....I would get up before the sun, drive to the Catalina Mountains, park and start walking the Sabino Canyon trail just as the sun was starting to light up the top edge of the mountains. I loved to walk in the canyon. God's beauty in every direction. My desire was to walk the canyon and return to the parking lot before the sun was high in the sky, and the heat was too intense. I was never alone...there were other fellow souls enjoying the hike through the canyon as well. I truly enjoyed my times in the desert. Enjoy whatever opportunities God brings your way...you may not have them tomorrow!
At this time of my life, I am enjoying the beauty of the springs in North Central Florida.
